Light

Today, Paul reminds us that our past should impact our present.

Ephesians 5

1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.

4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes - these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.

5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.

7 Don’t participate in the things these people do.

8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.

11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

12 It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.

13 But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them,

14 for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

Light. If you have never seen the movie “Rudy”, you need to stop reading this and go rent it because the rest of this thought won’t make any sense. Go ahead ... I’ll wait. ... What did you think? Pretty good right? I almost cry every time he gets accepted to Notre Dame. Anyways, the scene I wanted to reference is when Roland tells the coach that he wants Rudy to take his place in the lineup for the game the next day. I love the two lines that follow. The coach says, “You're an aII-American and our captain. Act Iike it.” Roland responds by saying, “I believe I am.” I love that scene! In today’s passage, Paul is like the coach telling the Jesus followers in Ephesus, “You are children of God ... people of light. Act like it.” The question is, if someone said that to you could you respond the same way Roland did?

Greatest

Every Wednesday, we review the previous weekend’s message. This past weekend, Jonathan began a new series entitled “Love God. Love People.” He talked about the fact that religious leaders in Jesus’ time had identified 613 rules that people had to follow and then referenced a scene in which Jesus was asked to pick the most important one of all those rules...

Matthew 22

35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question:

36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’

38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Greatest. The best advice I could ever give you is to do your best to honor God in everything you think, say and do. That is why I love it when Jesus calls this the “greatest” commandment. This commandment isn’t only the greatest in terms of importance it is also the greatest in terms of blessing. As odd as it sounds, God didn’t request our love for His sake ... He requested it for our sake.

Renew

Yesterday, Paul talked about the idea of maturing ... of being like Jesus. Today, he offers a weeks worth of advice for our journey. I encourage you to read through it more than once and to read it slower every time you read it.

Ephesians 4

17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.

18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.

19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ.

21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him,

22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.

23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.

24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God - truly righteous and holy.

25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,

27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

28 If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.

32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Renew. Like I said earlier, we could spend a week unpacking this passage; but there is one thought that really stood out to me ... “let the Spirit renew” you. There is a definite role we play in this maturation process (reread verse 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, etc.). However, we can’t do it on our own. We need the help of the Holy Spirit. I would encourage you to say a simple prayer, “Father, transform me ... change the way I think about life so that I see life the way You life.” As a matter of fact, you might try saying it every day.

Like

Last week, Paul talked a lot about God’s plan for unity. Today, Paul talks about how it is preserved.

Ephesians 4

7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.

8 That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.”

9 Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.

10 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.

12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Like. We are free to begin following Jesus no matter which direction we are headed; but that doesn’t mean God wants us to continue in that direction. I love this quote by Richard L. Strauss, “God is not trying to produce successful Christian business people who can impress the world with their money and influence. ... He wants to reproduce in His followers the character of His son - His love, His kindness, His compassion, His holiness, His humility, His unselfishness, His servant attitude, His willingness to suffer wrongfully, His ability to forgive, and so much more that characterized His life on earth.”